Well, nothing much of huge blogging interest has happened in the last couple of days (unfortunately my day-to-day work stories aren't exciting brain surgeries but rather what kid cried, what kid didn't, what kid required excessive diaper changing, and what kid (and not I'm not joking) has been calling me mom for the last three days).
I've decided then that I'm going to use the lull (things will be looking up this weekend - more on that later) to tell you about all the daily Cordoban things that it never really occurred to me to blog about, but could be entertaining and therefore possibly blog-worthy.
The first thing is that my "family" things I'm hilarious. Actually. I routinely get lost, exaggerate, make mistakes that make for interesting stories, and...wait for it...sleep walk. Yes, my sleepwalking has become almost a daily occurance. I will go to bed (usually earlier than everyone else on weekdays) and within an hour or two of falling asleep I will visit everyone still up and chatting - something they enjoy telling me about immensely.
The other thing is buses. While subways and streetcars here are non-existent and I have been warned away from the disgustingness of trains (by many MANY people), the buses are my main source of transportation. Cheap (an hour and half ride to Rio Ceballos is about $1 Canadian), comfortable (think much nicer greyhound), and frequent (like 2 minutes apart sometimes, 10 at most) they have become my best friend. However, they are not like Canadian buses.
1) the driver routinely drives with the door open (even if a mother and her child are balanced precariously on the steps
2) stops aren't really stops, you just kind of stand at designated points at the road and flag the bus down. Even if you are at a designated point the bus will not stop unless you flag it down and sometimes, depending on the bus drivers mood, he might not stop at all
3) getting off the bus involves the bus driver slowing down (never stopping) and opening the doors. I have since mastered the hopping off while it's still moving and so far so good.
4) general fact: cars have the right of way. always. even on a green light.
Anyway, that is all the random fun facts that have been floating around in my brain for the past month that I always conveniently forget right before I blog, now I shall tell you a little bit about my week.
Well, Søren is cracking under the pressure of taking care of the kids (they were particularly heinous though this week) and routinely leaves early (citing various reasons) and takes long breaks alone in the bedrooms (off-limits to the kids during the day). I don't think it will help him that tomorrow is Mikkel's last day before he heads off for two weeks of travelling around Argentina before heading back to Denmark (two weeks before Søren).
As for me, I have found my niche at Eva Peron. I have established my routine and good relationships with my kids and after one incident (where they didn't listen to me) my authority has been established. Yay.
Basically when I arrive I help set up for their breakfast and then after they eat I wash all the dishes and sometimes help with the prep for lunch (say...scraping ten thousand potatoes). Afterwords I play with the kids (today that involved drawing - I made the mistake of making one nice "name tag" for one of the kids and then I was asked by a bunch and that pretty much consumed my morning). Later I set up for lunch, oversee the eating of lunch, then do the dishes, wipe down the table, stack the chairs, sweep the messy floor, put the kids to bed, and leave.
So far it's all been really good (except for the occasional days when the kids are just crazy from being contained all day and go nuts crying).
Tomorrow is Friday and because this week has been a bit brutal (always at least a few kids crying at any given minute and with Søren cracking up) I am thankful. After work I'm going to go vegetable shopping, walk around for a bit, sleep a bit, and then in the evening I have another Spanish lesson (which are going pretty well - two hours a day).
This weekend in particular though I am looking forward to. While I really enjoy the bustle of my house and the general atmosphere and all the people I am more of a homebody and a bit of a loner and this weekend will give me a good chance to exercise that.
I'm leaving Saturday morning (and coming back Sunday night) to La Cumbre and Capilla del Monte. Capilla del Monte boasts the highest point in Las Sierras Chicas (big mountains) and La Cumbre boasts a gorgeous market (somewhere my mother is really happy) and is going to provide me with my first taste of paragliding. I've already organized everything (it finally came together about 20 minutes ago which is making me really excited) and I'm staying in a little 1938-English townhouse in La Cumbre which has only 8 bedrooms for guests but is as cheap as a hostel (pretty much the greatest thing ever!). Just the prospect of 40 hours without internet, by myself, and pretty much uninterrupted is sounding so appealing (which I guess makes sense when you live with 9 really social people and work 25 hours a week with 20 children under the age of 8).
Long story short I will not be blogging this weekend given my internet free state, so I will do my best to blog sometime on Monday after work.
The funny story I will leave you with is this:
There is a dollar store of sorts near our house and on Tuesday night I went with Laura to buy a bunch of colouring books (goodbye presents for my kids) and I'm pretty sure the lady thought I was nuts. Then on Wednesday Laura (who's luggage still hadn't shown up - although it thankfully has now) went in to buy a ton of cheap socks - same saleslady. Finally, yesterday I went in with Laura again to buy a bunch of kinder eggs (after realizing it's the kids favourite candy I decided I would get them each one) and we wound up buying a whole tray of them, got the same saleslady, and now have come to the conclusion that the entire city of cordoba (or at least everyone on Rivera Indarte) thinks that I am insane.
All though that's not too far off, so I guess I'll take it :)
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1 comment:
Hi Jane,
You're such a decriptive writer, I can almost imagine myself there with you. I enjoy hearing about your adventures so much. Really, your bog and Kate's blog have become my reason to check the computer each morning. Email, shmemail!! Enjoy your weekend away from it all and make sure your buckles are tight when your flying through the air.
Love, Granny
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